Trial of Fire (59 page)

Why?

He could
feel
her, at the edge of his awareness. She’d always been there – but this was the first time he’d noticed, the first time he realised he could feel it. He had Senses at last, and they were wide awake.

But they couldn’t tell him why she’d lied.

Carefully, he disengaged Robert’s hand from his arm, placing it down on the ground beside him. He tipped off his own blankets, laying them over the sleeping man. He stood then, stretching to wake up stiff muscles, looking around at the rest of the camp.

So this must be the wilds of Rona. He’d skirted this country a dozen times on his way home to Maitland, but never had he actually been up onto the plateau. There wasn’t too much of it, but it was enough to defend, enough to make a stand. It would do.

He wasn’t the only one awake, either. There were fires stoked up, more than one pot of brew on the go and somebody somewhere was cruelly cooking up bacon. It wasn’t until he saw Deverin, however, that he decided to leave Robert to his rest.

Deverin welcomed him with a smile. ‘How are you feeling this morning, my lord?’

‘Well, thank you.’ Andrew smiled back. ‘I don’t suppose you have a drop of brew spare, do you? I don’t think I ate yesterday.’

‘Not from what I heard, no.’ Deverin gestured to Micah who immediately passed along a cup of fresh brew and Andrew sipped it, blowing on it to cool it so it wouldn’t burn his mouth.

‘Is everybody here yet?’ he asked, looking around, trying to distinguish the various sleeping mounds.

‘We’re still waiting for Payne and Daniel, plus a few others. With luck, they’ll be here by sunset. If not …’

Andrew looked up, but Deverin was giving nothing more away. He frowned, taking another look around the camp. ‘Where’s the Bishop? And Father John, Braden and Edain?’

Deverin held his gaze steadily. ‘They have not yet arrived. I’ve sent men out to look for them. The Bishop may not travel as fast as you.’

Andrew heard the concern in the older man’s voice and nodded. He could hardly bear thinking about losing McCauly and John. Surely they were still on their way.

He knew they were all watching him, not just Deverin and Micah, but everyone already awake: watching him and waiting, though none of them could know the truth about—

‘Do we have sentries posted?’ he asked as Owen approached.

‘We do. Four men at each path up to the plateau, and two Seekers, one ranging north, the other south.’

‘What shifts?’

‘Four on, four off.’

‘Change it to two on, two off. Everyone needs to take a spell. And we need a group to head down the northern pass into the nearest town – what’s it called? Ana Rona? We’ll need supplies. Just tell them to be careful not to get caught – but they can be as obvious as they like, and if they left a clear trail up here, then they would be doing a good day’s work. Is this our only water supply?’

He ignored the swiftly hidden surprise and waited for an answer. Deverin was the first to recover, pointing towards the thin brook and saying, ‘Yes, my lord. Though we do have barrels stored here, under cover.’

‘Then we need to start filling them today. We have no idea how long we’re going to be here and the last thing we need to worry about is water.’

‘Will you take breakfast, my lord?’ Micah asked quietly as Andrew handed him the empty cup.

‘No. I’ll wait until Robert wakes up. Right now, I’m going to wash.’ He almost laughed as he walked away. The looks on their faces were a picture.

*

There were rocks on the ground he hadn’t noticed the night before. Or perhaps he had noticed them and simply decided they weren’t worth the bother of moving. Only now they left sharp-edged indentations in his ribs, recalling certain other bruises only recently healed. Next time he would learn to just move and be done with it.

He could hear he was the last to wake. It sounded like there was an awful lot of activity going on considering nothing much was happening as yet. But if he opened his eyes, he’d have to move, get up and really feel all the bruises from the rocks. He’d have to deal with more than that as well.

‘Are you going to sleep all day, my lord, or are you going to remember that you’re supposed to be leading this ragged army?’

Robert opened one eye to find Micah staring down at him. More surprisingly, Micah was actually smiling – something he hadn’t seen in more years than he could remember. He opened the other eye, just to be sure he wasn’t still dreaming.

‘Are we under attack?’

‘Not at this moment, no.’

‘Then yes, I plan on sleeping all day.’

‘We’d rather you didn’t. Just in case we do come under attack.’

‘Oh, very well,’ Robert sighed, making it sound like his rising was a personal favour. He sat up, his head aching a little at first. Then he accepted the cup of brew that Micah held out and took a good mouthful, breathing hard when he realised how hot it was. ‘Any more arrivals?’

‘A few, though not all we’re expecting. We’re still waiting for McCauly to arrive.’

Robert looked up with a frown. ‘Is he late yet?’

‘Not really, but Deverin has already sent out men to see if they can find him on the road. I’m afraid a missing Bishop is enough to make everybody a little nervous.’

‘Including the enemy, I’m sure.’

‘How long do you think it will take Kenrick to find us?’

‘Two, perhaps three days. Four if he’s not paying attention to all the clues I left for him.’ Robert shifted until he could sit up against the tree, twisting to get the kinks out of his back. ‘Where’s Andrew?’

‘Oh, well, that’s anybody’s guess. He hasn’t sat still since he woke up. He’s already reorganised the sentries, sent out foraging parties, arranged for water storage and fodder for the horses, not to mention the building of a shelter for the wounded. Everybody’s been waiting for you to wake up so you can save us from him.’

Robert stared at his old friend, seeing more there than he had in a long time. ‘You mean Andrew? The same Andrew we brought in last night?’

‘Your son, Andrew, yes.’ Micah said this quietly, folding his hands together, making himself ready for Robert’s censure.

‘Ah,’ Robert nodded, withdrawing a little. ‘So you heard.’

‘Finnlay thought it wise I should know, though I confess, I had to assume something like that had happened.’

Robert knew he had to ask the question, though with their newly gained peace, it was hard to take that step out on another limb. ‘How long have you known?’

Micah crouched down on the ground before him, picking at a raised tree root with little attention. ‘I guessed, before Andrew was born. How could I not? I was at Elita the night before her wedding. It was not hard to guess why you’d sent yourself into exile. I knew you wouldn’t be able to forgive yourself for … for failing to deny the Bonding.’

Robert stared at Micah. How could this man, who had been apart from him for so long, still care enough to say something like that? ‘I need to ask. Why didn’t you tell me?’

Micah pursed his lips. ‘You never asked me. Jenn always knew that if you did, I would have told you.’

No, he hadn’t asked. ‘By the gods!’ Robert breathed, putting his head back against the trunk.

‘She’s still here.’

‘I know.’

Micah looked away out over the moor. ‘I’d like to offer my congratulations on your becoming a father at last. I’m probably the first to do so.’

Robert couldn’t help but smile. Despite everything else, Micah was right: he was a father, no matter how little he deserved such an honour. ‘Thank you. Now I think it’s time I went and found my son.’ Few words had ever tasted so good.

‘I don’t think you’ll have to look far.’

Turning, Robert caught sight of Andrew jogging across the moor towards him, wind-blown hair across his face.

‘You need to decide what you’re going to do,’ Micah added, keeping his voice low as Andrew came to a halt beside them.

‘Good morning,’ Robert began carefully, getting to his feet. He had no way to guess what Andrew was thinking or feeling today.

Andrew didn’t respond immediately, and Robert could sense that Micah was on the point of withdrawing. Then the boy replied, ‘Good morning. You slept.’

‘Not nearly as much as you.’

‘Was that sleep?’

‘I hope so. Besides, you’re not dead, so what else was it?’

Andrew’s eyebrows rose. ‘You don’t know?’

‘Well, actually, at a guess I’d say that you stretched yourself a little too far the first time you used your abilities. Normally we begin by learning how to use an
ayarn
, which helps to focus and shield you from such overuse, but considering the fact that your mother never needed one and …’ he faltered then, but recovered quickly, ‘and I haven’t needed one for years, it’s not surprising that you didn’t require one either. How do you feel now?’

With a shrug, Andrew grinned. ‘Like nothing happened.’

‘Well, something did happen, and don’t you forget it. Later, once I’ve eaten, we’ll find some quiet area and do some testing and training. I don’t want a repeat of the other night.’

‘No.’ Andrew’s smile faded and Robert knew he should broach the other subject, but he himself needed a little more time to absorb it first. Besides, there was something else he needed to say.

‘You realise this changes everything.’

‘How?’

Robert sighed, looking at Micah before saying, ‘I can’t put you on the throne.’

Instantly, Andrew was on the defensive. ‘Why not?’

‘Because you’re my son, that’s why,’ Robert said, only too mindful of the men at work not so far away. An errant gust of wind would take his words much further than he was ready for.

‘Why should that make a difference?’

‘My lord,’ Micah interrupted, ‘the Bishop did some research. As far as the rest of the country is concerned, Andrew is Duke of Ayr, son to Teige Eachern and Jennifer Ross. You said yourself he was staking his claim through his mother’s blood, not his father’s, but even if he wasn’t, you as his father only increases the strength of his claim to the throne of Lusara, since Eachern was Mayenne-born.’

‘The Bishop knows as well?’ Robert rolled his eyes, not appreciating having his own history and arguments quoted back to him. ‘Micah,’ he dropped his voice, none too comfortable about this, ‘need I remind you of the simple fact that, well, that Jenn and I have never been married?’ He felt his face reddening at saying this in front of Andrew, but it couldn’t be helped.

Micah said, ‘I’m afraid that actually doesn’t make a difference in the eyes of the law – nor in the eyes of the Church. It doesn’t matter if Eachern
wasn’t his actual father, what matters is that Eachern and Jenn were married at the time Andrew was born. I can assure you, Robert, that Andrew will not be the first King to have such interesting parentage when he ascends the throne.’

‘You, of all people, are telling me to ignore the truth?’

There was an unmistakable sparkle in Micah’s pale blue eyes which Robert had sorely missed. ‘No, I’m telling you to listen to your son.’

Robert stared at him for a moment before it occurred to him to look at Andrew. The boy was almost bouncing on the balls of his feet, desperate to say something. As Robert turned, Andrew’s arguments almost gushed out. ‘You can’t change your mind now! Everybody’s expecting this, and if you go back on it now, they’re going to wonder why. If you can’t give them a reason, and I don’t think you will, what
are
you going to say? There are thousands of people involved here, people who’ve placed their trust in you. All the reasons you used on me when you first abducted me, none of them have changed. If I hear right, we’re two or three days away from this battle. You can’t change the rules now.’

Andrew’s enthusiasm, the sparkle in his blue eyes, the very passion leaking out of every pore, served to remind Robert of what was really at stake here: not just a crown, but the defeat of evil. Without giving an answer, he asked Micah, ‘Would you mind giving us a moment?’

And as he moved away, Robert faced Andrew again. Almost immediately, the boy sobered. ‘First,’ Robert began carefully, ‘I want you to know, I didn’t mean what I said that night. I was trying to provoke you. I have never thought you a coward.’

There was a faint flicker of relief at that.

‘Second, I need you to tell me why you’ve changed your mind.’

For a moment, Andrew said nothing. Then he drew in a breath and dropped his head. ‘I
was
scared. Afraid that I would just be another … Kenrick, that it was in my blood and with my mother’s powers. I …’ He swallowed and looked up again. ‘You said I didn’t care, but I do; I just didn’t know what to do.’

‘And now you do? Now you’re ready to kill Kenrick?’ It was a harsh question, but Robert needed to hear the answer from his son’s lips.

‘No,’ Andrew said, ‘I don’t think I’ll ever be ready to kill him. But I am ready to fight him, and that’s all we need, isn’t it?’

Robert reached out, hooked an arm around the boy’s shoulders and drew him close. As Andrew hugged him back, Robert felt a wave of emotion pass over him. Then he let his son go and announced, ‘If I don’t get some breakfast, I’m going to fall over.’

‘Well, the bad news is that you’re too late for breakfast as it’s already past
midday,’ Andrew grinned. ‘But Finnlay insisted on saving something for you. If you want to go and wash, I’ll make sure it’s ready.’

With that, the boy ran off towards the cook fire, leaving Robert reeling for the second time in two days.

*

Since they weren’t hiding and they had no intention of dying quietly, Finnlay’s suggestion that they have a little music after supper was greeted with cheers. Everyone gathered together around the fire and, led by those who could play an instrument or hold a tune, brought a little light and laughter to the wilds of Rona.

It was almost fun. But even with the music and the camaraderie, Finnlay could see the underlying tension in the eyes of the men singing along to the music, or tapping their toes. They all knew what was at stake. Though Kenrick wouldn’t be able to get his entire army up onto the plateau, if Robert didn’t receive substantial reinforcements soon, then they were all doomed.